The present disclosure relates generally to data integrity management responsive to an electrostatic event. An electrostatic discharge (ESD) event may damage or degrade an electronic device if a large amount of current generated by the ESD flows through an unintended path of the device. As electronic devices become faster and smaller, their susceptibility to ESD can increase. ESD may impact productivity and product reliability in virtually every aspect of today's electronics environment, especially in hand-held systems such as mobile phones and portable music players because a human body is a source of ESD.
Particularly, ESD can be detrimental to data storage devices. An electrostatic charge can build up on a chassis of a data storage device and the consequent discharge may go through an undesired path, such as through a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) or a head disc assembly (HDA), instead of from the chassis to earth ground. These undesirable paths of ESD can deteriorate the data storage device performance. For example, during a write mode in a disc drive, ESD can cause on-track and/or off-track errors. Further, ESD can introduce latent damage into a data storage device that may not be detected until the data storage device is provided to an end user. Also, an ESD event may occur when the data storage device is no longer in the care of the manufacturer, such as during use by an end user.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved system and method of detecting an electrostatic event at a data storage device.